After beating ‘MVP’ at UFC 303, Ian Machado Garry is ready to take Shavkat Rakhmonov’s ‘O’
After moving to 15-0 with a solid performance against ‘MVP’ at UFC 303, Ian Machado Garry has his sights set on taking Shavkat Rakhmonov’s ‘O.’
Garry returned to the Octagon on Saturday night and scored himself a unanimous decision victory over Michael ‘Venom’ Page in the evening’s main card opener. For three rounds, Garry executed a perfect game plan that saw him largely stifle Page’s unorthodox striking style, handing ‘Venom’ just his third career loss in 14 years.
Given Page was sitting seven spots below ‘The Future’ in the welterweight rankings, it’s unclear what impact, if any, Garry’s win will have on his position in the division. Regardless of that, the Irishman is ready for another step up in competition.
“I’m gonna have a chat with Hunter [Campbell] and Dana [White] to figure out what’s next,” Garry said at the post-fight press conference. “There’s some big names, there’s some cool matchups. This Shavkat, 18-0 undefeated. I’d love to get my hands on him. I’ve trained with him. I have nothing, but respect for the guy, but I want to be the first guy to take his ‘O’ and I know I can do it. I just beat the fastest guy in the division, other than me, when it comes to striking and skills so I know I can do it.
“When it comes to grappling, we’ve seen the growth that I have. I’m excited to go out there and prove it against someone like him.”
Is Ian Machado Garry the right fight for Shavkat Rakhmonov?
Shavkat Rakhmonov is a perfect 18-0 in his mixed martial arts career with six of those wins coming inside the Octagon. Perhaps even more impressive is his 100% finish rate, including eight knockouts and 10 submissions.
Rakhmonov’s last appearance went down at UFC 296 in December where he scored a second-round rear-naked choke against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.
That moved ‘Nomad’ to the No. 3 spot in the welterweight rankings with the only two fighters above him being Belal Muhammad and ex-champion Kamaru Usman.
